Portland Streetcar
The Portland Streetcar is a streetcar system in Portland, Oregon, that opened in 2001 and serves areas surrounding downtown Portland. The 3.9-mile (6.3 km) NS Line runs from Northwest Portland to the South Waterfront via Downtown and the Pearl District. The Loop Service, which opened in September 2012 as the Central Loop (CL Line), runs from Downtown to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry via the Pearl District, the Broadway Bridge across Willamette River, the Lloyd District, and the Central Eastside Industrial District and added 3.3 miles (5.3 km) of route. In September 2015 the line was renamed as the Loop Service, with the A Loop traveling clockwise, and the B Loop traveling counterclockwise. The two-route system serves some 20,000 daily riders.
| Portland Streetcar | |||
|---|---|---|---|
A streetcar on the Broadway Bridge in 2016 | |||
| Overview | |||
| Owner | City of Portland | ||
| Locale | Portland, Oregon, U.S. | ||
| Transit type | Streetcar | ||
| Number of lines | 3 | ||
| Daily ridership | 16,351 (weekdays) (February 2017) | ||
| Annual ridership | 4.6 million (annual; FY 2015) | ||
| Website | portlandstreetcar | ||
| Operation | |||
| Began operation | July 20, 2001 | ||
| Operator(s) |
| ||
| Number of vehicles | 17 (3 on order) | ||
| Technical | |||
| System length | 7.2 mi (11.6 km) | ||
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge | ||
| Electrification | Overhead line, 750 V DC | ||
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As with the heavier-duty MAX Light Rail network which serves the broader Portland metropolitan area, Portland Streetcars are operated and maintained by TriMet. But unlike MAX, the streetcar system is owned by the city of Portland and managed by Portland Streetcar Incorporated, a non-profit public benefit corporation whose board of directors report to the city's Bureau of Transportation.
Like some of Portland's original streetcar lines, redevelopment has been a major goal of the project. The Portland Streetcar is the first new streetcar system in the United States since World War II.